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The children’s services of Oklahoma had called him, telling him that his child had been in a car accident, and asked if he was willing to come and get her. He hadn’t any idea what they were talking about, and after an attorney showed up on his doorstep, he realized that a woman had used his donation and had Miley.
“The mother is...I don’t know how to tell you this, sir, but the company that she got your donation from was less than stellar. They should never have given— But that isn’t important. The woman in question was very intoxicated and ran a red light. It wasn’t the first time that she’d done such a thing. But this time it ended tragically, for both her and the little girl. We don’t normally do this sort of thing, contact someone that has helped in this sort of situation, but I don’t want to see this brilliant little girl go into the system.” Right then, without any kind of knowledge about Miley, he said that he’d take her. “Good. There will be money coming in from the company that dealt with the woman, and that will come to you in the form of a check monthly.”
He decided then to put the money in an account for Miley to use for college. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t have used the money—there were times when it was tempting as hell to dip into it. But Joel only had to look into the face of his daughter to know that the money would do more for her future than for him to not have to walk to work a few times a week. He pushed the button on the steering wheel to call his daughter. Joel loved modern techs.
“Dad, you’re not going to believe this. I have to write a report on ancient times. Like that is going to help me when I get out of school. I can see it now—I’ll be on a date and he’ll only want to talk about stuff that happened well before either of us were even thought of, much less our parents. Why are you calling me?” Laughing, he told her that they were going to have a guest for dinner. “Oh really? A woman guest? Should I change the sheets on your bed?”
“Miley Ann. My goodness, the stuff that comes out of your mouth sometimes. No, you do not go in my room again. The last time you tidied up, it took me a week to find my shoes.” He laughed with her. “No, she’s the lady that I was going to ride around all week. Be nice.”
“I’m always nice to strangers. It’s you that I have to be snarky to.” The laughter from the back had him realizing that Mercy could hear every word they were saying. “But I will peel some potatoes and bake one of those long breads that you like. Oh, and the mail has some things in it you have to deal with. Dad, I need to help out around here.”
“We’ll talk about it later. But for now, just make sure that the trash is taken out and you vacuum. Miss Dante and I will be there shortly.” Past due notices. “Also, I’ll see about helping you with your homework when I get there.”
After closing the connection, he glanced in the mirror. Mercy was still sitting staring out the window, but he had a feeling that she could have told him every word he and Miley had said. He would only be driving her this week, he told himself, and after that, he’d never see her again. The money was just too good to stop now.
Chapter 2
Mercy, what do you care if he’s asked you to behave. You can be a bit caustic when it suits you. She couldn’t argue with Piper about that—she was. But Mercy wanted Piper to tell her it would be all right to kill the man. You haven’t done any kind of research on this man, so I’ll tell you. This guy is one day, I think, from losing it all. He’s having trouble meeting his house payment, his car is about as old as he is, and he has a little girl that has issues as well. The car accident that killed her mother left her paralyzed from the waist down. And she rides around in an older wheelchair because they cannot afford to get her another one. This money that he’s being paid to carry you around is going to be the difference between him sleeping in that old car or having his house payment brought up to date.
Mercy wanted to say that wasn’t any of her concern, that she’d not hired the jerk, but didn’t. The conversation that she’d overheard between him and his daughter was light, funny, and full of love. Nothing that she’d experienced since Dante had died.
I think I’m coming home. Piper said that if she did, then all of them were leaving her alone for a year. No, that won’t work for me. I demand that you allow me to come home. I’ll pay the man for his job. I don’t like this shit.
Tough. You will stay on that vacation or I will come there and beat the shit out of you. You know I can, Mercy. I can burn every feather off that bird of yours and then take off. I’m sick of you being at the job every day when it’s not necessary. Relax. She told Piper that she didn’t know how. I know. And that scares us more than anything. You have to learn, Mercy. Or the fainting spell that you had will only get worse. You know that. Even though you’re an immortal like us, you can still be hurt badly. At least until you find a mate. Please, for the love of us all, try and have some fun. At the very least, I want you to relax as much as you can.
I’ll try. She would too but was not making any promises. It was as hard for her to relax as it was most people to jump out of a plane, even with a parachute on. Mercy told her that she’d talk to her tomorrow, that she was at his home. And I’ll try my best to behave, but I’m not making any sort of promises to anyone.
The house was old, probably older than Joel was, but it was tidy. The front porch was sagging a bit, but it had pretty greens on the front. Not flowers, she noticed when she got out, but salad greens. The fresh coat of paint on the front door was welcoming and friendly. The door opened, and a little girl in a wheelchair struggled to get through the opening.
“Here, honey, let me help you.” Joel ran up the steps, skipping the first one, she noticed. It wasn’t until she was ready to step up on it to join them that they both screamed at her to stop. “I’m sorry. I should have warned you. That step is off. I’ve tried fixing it, but I think there is something wrong with the foundation. Mercy Dante, I’d like for you to meet my daughter, Miley. Miley, this is the woman that I was telling you about.”
“Hello. My dad said that you were going to be helpful to us.” Joel warned his daughter to behave. “He says that to me a lot. Like I’m going to be able to cause any trouble any other way but with my mouth.”
“He’s told me to behave as well. I
’ve actually thought about ignoring him and having fun with him, but he is a stick in the mud at times.” Miley laughed. It was a sound that Mercy thought that she could get used to. It was childish, of course, but it was more. Like if she could bottle it, she’d be able to quit working all together. “I can help you with your homework, if you’d like. I’ve done a great deal of research on it. We can even play around on the computer, and I can show you things that aren’t quite true too.”
“We don’t have a computer, Miss Dante. But I will take the help. It’s hard at times to do stuff, but Dad and I make up for it with just having fun.” Mercy told her that she was sorry. “No need to be. You haven’t any idea about us, and that’s okay too. Come on in and I’ll show you what I have to do. Dad can finish up dinner while you help me.”
“I don’t know.” Joel seemed as if he’d rather her not help his daughter, and that pissed her off. Of course, everything did lately, but she wasn’t going to change her mind. Until he spoke again. “Miley, that’s something you and I work on. I’ll miss that.”
Reaching out to Jude, she asked her if she had any contacts that would work with her where she was. Yes, several. Have you figured it out yet, by the way? If not, you’re in New Mexico. Stay with Joel, honey, or you could be in trouble. She knew of the recent trouble that was happening to tourists. Mercy figured that Blaze thought she could handle herself. Why did you want to know about contacts?
I would like for you to have someone bring a computer, as well as all the things that might need to go with it. I doubt they have Internet here, so perhaps you could get that fixed up as well. Whatever is needed to help a child with their homework. She said that she could do that. I’ll pay for it, by the way.
No worries there, Mercy. These people, most of them anyway, owe me a favor or two, so they’ll bring it out. She heard Jude’s fingers clicking across the keyboard as she spoke. I can have cable out there in a few minutes. The hookups are there, but there isn’t any service at the moment. I don’t think, from what it looks like, that it ever has been.
In less time than it took for Miley to pull out her books while her father was in the kitchen working, she not only had cable hooked up with all the stations, but also the Internet at the highest speeds. Jude told her that Joel might not care for her doing this.
Like I care. His daughter was nice to me while he was an ass. I’ll take care of him if it comes to it. She might come and live with me as an orphan again. That wasn’t nice, and she knew it, but she was sick of this forced vacation and being saddled with an over the top male that bossed her around.
Twenty minutes later a large truck pulled up in front of the house. The knock at the door had Joel coming from the kitchen to answer it as she was reading over the rules for the paper that Miley had coming due. It was too complicated for a child, she thought, and then looked up at Joel when he said her name.
“Mercy, I’d like to speak to you please. In private.” She asked him about what. “Would you please get up off your ass and come to—?” He let out a long breath. “I’d like to talk to you about this delivery that I’m not accepting.”
“You most certainly are. It’s not for you anyway, it’s for Miley. To help with school.” She directed the men to bring in the things that Jude had set up. “It is a bit more than I thought she’d send. I only asked for a computer and whatever went with it.”
“This isn’t staying.” She ignored him for the paperwork. “Did you hear a word I just said to you? These things aren’t staying. You’ll have to send them take it back.”
